Developing a VIP training service for individual employers and personal assistants

Caroline Coleman, CEO of Coleman Training, tells us how, they responded to a demand for more tailored training for individual employers (IEs) and their personal assistants (PAs).

How it all began

We first (knowingly) met IEs and PAs when delivering Health Education England (HEE) funded courses to services in Yorkshire last year.

The training group had included PAs and their employers who told us they were delighted to have the opportunity to access training, because this had been an issue for them in the past. They told us that most training tended to reflect the needs of people working in care homes, domiciliary care, or learning disability services. We were told that their work was very different because they didn’t have the support network around them that’s available in a larger organisation.

From their feedback we also learnt that PAs often feel a sense of isolation on occasions in their role, and they regularly feel that they would have liked to have shared a problem or taken the advice of a colleague. Often, PAs must respond “in the moment” to a wide range of different situations. Some PAs told us that this was stressful, and that they would have liked to access quality training to help them to better understand and deal with some of the recurring situations that they experienced.

To add to this, PAs don’t usually have the luxury of a large organisation to support them with easily accessible training and coaching, so accessing quality training and support can be a challenge.

It can be difficult for PAs to take time out to attend training courses, so it would be important that any courses for them would be no longer than two hours and scheduled at different times of the day.

Developing bespoke training for IEs and PAs

With the insights we’d gathered, I was keen to find out more about the IE and PA part of our workforce. I took the opportunity to attend Skills for Care’s National Event for Individual Employers and Personal Assistants to learn more about the specific challenges that they face and whether there was a way that Coleman Training could help. Hearing from PAs at the event, it was obvious that their role covers a broad range of activities, depending on the needs of their employer.

At Coleman Training, we already offer a ‘VIP service’ for people working in social care. It’s an ongoing package of training through which learners can access all core and mandatory training, plus a range of specialist courses, delivered virtually by experienced subject matter experts. A ‘Platinum service’ can also be accessed which includes face-to-face training. One of the benefits of the service is that it includes a promise that any training that’s booked onto by learners will be delivered, regardless of the numbers enrolled.

The courses are designed to be interactive and engaging. The duration is usually just two hours, and the trainer tailors each course to the needs of the individuals attending, while meeting all the learning objectives. Attendees have lots of opportunity to ask questions or discuss specific issues that they may be facing.

When we examined the existing ‘VIP service’, we realised that our training materials were directed at learners who worked within organisations and didn’t include IEs and their PAs. This led to us examining how we could better support IEs and PAs with training that was more aligned to their experiences.

We decided to pilot a bespoke ‘VIP service’ for PAs and their employers which would be based on our existing service, as well as the knowledge and feedback we’d gathered from IEs and PAs. In developing the pilot, we continued to reach out and speak with PAs and their employers and worked hard to ensure that we were developing a service that met their specific needs.

An important part of delivering the pilot was that it would enable us to hear more from IEs and PAs about their unique role in our sector.

From this we’ve undertaken a process of updating our training materials to include case studies and activities tailored to IEs and PAs - how should a PA respond to a situation where they enter the home of an individual employer with dementia who doesn’t recognise them? How does a PA support an individual employer with a learning disability who’s exposed to a trigger in a public setting that’s distressing for them and those around them? What are the skills needed for a PA working in isolation dealing with a medical emergency?

These are just some of the examples of situations that we’ve gathered from speaking to IEs and PAs that we’ve built into our tailored ‘VIP service’.

It's been of particular interest to us to hear that IEs that we spoke with were very keen to attend training alongside their PAs to develop their own skills and to “know what their PAs should be doing”. This is something that’s crucial to their role, as reflected in advice and guidance from Skills for Care.

What’s next?

We believe that it’s important that IEs and their PAs are able to access ongoing training, not just to maintain their current skills, but to build their knowledge and skills, enabling PAs to adapt to the changing needs of their IE with confidence and competence. We’re continuing to pilot our VIP Service for IEs and PAs and look forward to listening and learning from many more people in this important part of our sector.

Coleman Training’s VIP Service is £10 + VAT per month, per person, and has been supported by funding support from Skills for Care.

Find out how to get involved with the ‘VIP service for individual employers and personal assistants’, or share you own experiences by contacting juanita@colemantraining.co.uk, phoning 01202 138627 or by visiting the Coleman Training website.

Find out more about support for individual employers and personal assistants on the dedicated Skills for Care webpages.

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